Najaf or An-Najaf or Al-Najaf or An-Najaf al-Ashraf, is the capital city of Najaf Governorate in central Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam and one of its spiritual capitals, as well as the center of Shia political power in Iraq. It is the burial place of Muhammad's son in law and cousin, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib. It is a major pilgrimage destination for Shia Muslims. The largest cemetery in the world (Wadi-us-Salaam) and the oldest Shi'a Islamic seminary in the world are located in Najaf.
Karbala or Kerbala is a city in central Iraq, located about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an estimated population of 691,100 people (2024).
Ayatollah al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Muhsin al-Hakim at-Tabataba'i, also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab, was a senior Iraqi Shia Islamic Scholar and the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Al-Hakim spent more than 20 years in exile in Iran and returned to Iraq on 12 May 2003 following the US-led invasion. Al-Hakim was a contemporary of Ayatollah Khomeini, and The Guardian compared the two in terms of their times in exile and their support in their respective homelands. After his return to Iraq, al-Hakim's life was in danger because of his work to encourage Shiite resistance to Saddam Hussein and from a rivalry with Muqtada al-Sadr, the son of the late Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, who had himself been assassinated in Najaf in 1999. Al-Hakim was assassinated in a massive car-bomb explosion in his hometown Najaf in 2003 when he emerged from the shrine of Imam Ali. He was 63. At least 75 others were also killed in the bombing.
Muqtada al-Sadr is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He is the leader of the Sadrist Movement and the leader of the Peace Companies, a successor to the militia he had previously led during the American military presence in Iraq, the Mahdi Army. In 2018, he joined his Sadrist political party to the Saairun alliance, which won the highest number of seats in the 2018 and 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections.
Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani is an Iranian-Iraqi Islamic scholar. One of the most senior scholars of Twelver Shia with the rank of Grand Ayatollah and marja', he has been described as the spiritual leader of Shia Muslims worldwide, "the undisputed leader of Iraq's Shias", included in top positions of "The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential Muslims", from 2009 to 2024, and named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2004 and 2005.
The Mahdi Army was an Iraqi Shia militia created by Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003 and disbanded in 2008.
In Shia Islam, Arba'in marks forty days after Ashura, which is the martyrdom anniversary of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia imam. Husayn was killed, alongside most of his relatives and his small retinue, in the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram 61 AH against the army of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiya. The battle followed Husayn's refusal to pledge his allegiance to Yazid, who is often portrayed by Muslim historians as impious and immoral. In Shia Islam, Karbala symbolizes the eternal struggle between good and evil, the pinnacle of self-sacrifice, and the ultimate sabotage of Muhammad's prophetic mission.
The Imam Husayn Shrine is the mosque and burial site of Husayn ibn Ali, the third Imam of Shia Islam, in the city of Karbala, Iraq. It stands on the site of the Mausoleum of Husayn, who was a grandson of Muhammad, near the place where he embraced martyrdom during the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. The tomb of Husayn is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, outside of Mecca and Medina, and many make pilgrimages to the site. Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the city to observe Ashura, which marks the commemoration of Husayn's death for all Muslims.
The history of Islam in Iraq goes back almost 1,400 years to the lifetime of Muhammad. Iraq's 98% majority Muslims follow two distinct traditions: Shia Islam (55-60%) and Sunni Islam (35-40%).
The holiest sites in Islam are located in the Arabian Peninsula. While the significance of most places typically varies depending on the Islamic sect, there is a consensus across all mainstream branches of the religion that affirms two cities as having the highest degree of holiness, in descending order: Mecca, and Medina. Mecca's Al-Masjid al-Haram, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina are all revered by Muslims as sites of great importance.
The 2004 Iraq spring fighting was a series of operational offensives and various major engagements during the Iraq War. It was a turning point in the war; the Spring Fighting marked the entrance into the conflict of militias and religiously based militant Iraqi groups, such as the Shi'a Mahdi Army.
Tatbir is a form of self-flagellation rituals practiced by some Shia Muslims in commemoration of the killing of Husayn ibn Ali and his partisans in the Battle of Karbala by forces of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I.
The 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq or Second Sadr Uprising was a short period of unrest in Iraq in early 1999 following the killing of Muhammad al-Sadr by the then Ba'athist government of Iraq. The protests and ensuing violence were strongest in the heavily Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad, as well as southern majority Shiite cities such as Karbala, Nasiriyah, Kufa, Najaf, and Basra.
The Arba'in pilgrimage is the world's largest annual public gathering. It is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia imam. Every year, on the twentieth of Safar, also known as Arba'in, millions of pilgrims flock to Karbala, Iraq, often arriving there on foot from the nearby city of Najaf. Arba'in marks forty days after the tenth of Muharram, known as Ashura. On this day in 61 AH, Husayn was killed, alongside most of his relatives and his small retinue, in the Battle of Karbala against the army of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiya. The battle followed Husayn's refusal to pledge his allegiance to Yazid, who is often portrayed by Muslim historians as impious and immoral. In Shia Islam, Karbala symbolizes the eternal struggle between good and evil, the pinnacle of self-sacrifice, and the ultimate sabotage of Muhammad's prophetic mission.
Ziyarat Arba'een is an annual pilgrimage that takes place in the holy city of Karbala in Iraq. It is the world's largest pilgrimage, reaching an estimated number of over 22 million pilgrims in 2023. The pilgrimage seeks to honour the death of the third Shi'ite Imam, Husayn ibn Ali, who was a grandson of Muhammad. Husayn was killed during the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. In Arabic, "arba'een" means "forty", reverting to the 40th day after Husayn's death, and "ziyarat" means "visit". While the visitation of Husayn is not considered an Islamic obligation, like the Hajj, it plays an integral role in the religious life of Shia. The culture as stated by a researcher provides ways to express social emotion and from sociological perspective, feelings rules are ″appropriate ways to express internal sensation". So, also the ziyarat is directly or indirectly used to express the mourning of Imams.
Al-Atabat Al-Aliyat, which is also known as Al-Atabat Al-Muqaddasa are the shrines of six Shia Imams which are in four cities of Iraq, namely Najaf, Karbala, Kadhimiya and Samarra; and actually the whole of these Imams' shrines (graves) are called Atabat Aliyat. The mentioned cities have significance due to shrines of those six Shia Imams who have been buried there.
As sequel to protests in 2011, 2012 and 2013, Iraqi citizens have also in 2015 up until 2018 often and massively protested against the corruption and incompetence in their government which according to analysts and protesters had led to long-running problems in electricity supplies, clean water availability, Iranian interference in Iraqi politics, high unemployment, and a stagnant economy.
The 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq, also known as the First Sadr Uprising, took place as a followup to the Iranian Revolution (1978–1979) in neighbouring Iran, as the Shia Iraqi clerics vowed to overthrow Ba'athist Iraq, dominated by (secular) Sunni Muslims - specifically the Saddam Hussein family. Saddam and his deputies believed that the riots had been inspired by the Iranian Revolution and instigated by Iran's government. The riots erupted in May 1979 and escalated in June - leading to thousands being tortured and killed in Najaf. The uprising subsided with the April 1980 arrest of the leader of Shia Iraqis, Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his subsequent execution.
Ba'athist Iraq 
